‘After cases of death due to cough syrup, now children should…’: WHO gave important advice to the world

United Nations / Geneva. In the wake of deaths of children linked to cough syrups and medicines made by manufacturers in India and Indonesia, the World Health Organization (WHO) called on countries to detect and respond to incidents of counterfeit medical products and children being exposed to tainted medicines. called for urgent action to save The WHO said that over the past four months, countries have reported high levels of diethylene glycol (DEG) and ethylene glycol (EG) in marketed children’s cough syrups.

The cases are from at least seven countries, of which more than 300 deaths have been reported in three countries. Most of the children who lost their lives are under the age of five. WHO said pollutants are toxic chemicals used as industrial solvents and antifreeze agents that can be fatal even in small amounts and should never be found in medicines.

The global health agency said, ‘WHO is asking countries to take rapid action to prevent, detect and respond to incidents of substandard and counterfeit medical products.’ The WHO has issued three global ‘medical alerts’ on substandard pediatric medicines and syrups since October last year. It also issued a warning in October 2022 on Promethazine Oral Solution, Cofexmalin Baby Cough Syrup, Macoff Baby Cough Syrup and Magrip N Cold Syrup manufactured by Haryana’s Maiden Pharmaceuticals Ltd.

Four ‘substandard products’ were identified in Gambia and reported to WHO in September 2022. In November, an alert was issued by the WHO on eight products including Unibaby Cough Syrup, Unibaby Demm Paracetamol Drops and Unibaby Demm Paracetamol Syrup. These were identified in Indonesia and were produced by PT Afi Pharma.

Earlier this month, the World Health Organization issued an alert against the use of two ‘substandard’ cough syrups made by Marion Biotech in India. This syrup is being linked to the death of 18 children in Uzbekistan. Ambronol Syrup and Dok-1 Max Syrup were manufactured by Marion Biotech, Noida, Uttar Pradesh.

The World Health Organization issued a warning saying that the syrups failed to meet quality standards and contained contaminants that could prove fatal. WHO’s medical product alerts were quickly disseminated to the national health authorities of all 194 member states.

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Tags: Health, WHO